77th Street Division Joins Police Program : Crime: The move is made after Ridley-Thomas complains that black neighborhoods were excluded from the community-based experiment.

The Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday added a seventh police division to its community-based policing program after a city councilman protested that black neighborhoods had been excluded from the landmark experiment.

The 77th Street Division will immediately become a part of the network that embarked on the program last Sunday. After hearing complaints from City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas and community leaders, the commission had urged Chief Daryl F. Gates last week to include the area in the program’s first phase.

Gates said at the time that he took into account only operational considerations when selecting the divisions: the Southeast, Northeast, Harbor, Pacific, Foothill and Hollenbeck.

But Ridley-Thomas, who represents the area, said he was angered by the exclusion of the 77th Street Division. He met with Gates last Wednesday on the issue, describing the tenor of the discussion as “open, candid and cordial.”

“No primarily African-American community had been included and this caused me considerable concern . . . it was simply unacceptable,” Ridley-Thomas said.

Mayor Tom Bradley, who shared those concerns, contacted several of his appointed police commissioners on the issue, said Bradley spokesman Bill Chandler.

“To exclude this division would limit the success of the program,” Chandler said. “The 77th Division is in area where there is strong community support so that community-based policing can succeed.”

In a brief letter to the commission dated Jan. 23, the day after meeting with Ridley-Thomas, Gates recommended the addition “because parts of the 77th Street area and Southeast area are inextricably intertwined and the community would be best served by its inclusion.” The commission unanimously adopted the recommendation.

After the meeting, Gates said he reconsidered the inclusion of the 77th Street Division because it shares similar crime and increasing gang problems with neighboring Southeast.

“We thought maybe if we can solve the problems in Southeast, we can solve those in 77th,” Gates said. “Or if 77th is successful it will lap over to Southeast.”

Ridley-Thomas, who serves on the City Council committee that is overseeing Christopher Commission reforms, said he intends to help formulate a policing plan for his district.

Community-based policing was a key recommendation of the Christopher Commission, which investigated the Police Department in the wake of the police beating of Rodney G. King. The philosophy calls for police to work cooperatively with residents to decide the best ways to fight crime in their neighborhoods.

Gates has taken direct control of implementing the first phase of the program, which will eventually include all of the department’s 18 divisions. On Sunday, police in participating divisions were dispatched into their patrol areas with instructions to spend more time cultivating relationships with those they serve.

Gates added that there is a false expectation among many Los Angeles residents that the program will mean more patrol officers in their neighborhoods.